Sunday, November 8, 2009

Bring dogs into the library...help kids learn to read...

Children who are just learning to read often feel judged or intimidated by classmates and adults.

But reading to a dog isn't so scary.

It won't judge, it won't get impatient, it won't laugh or correct if the child makes a mistake.

In a nutshell, dogs are simply excellent listeners.

And for shy kids or slow readers, that can make all the difference.

In America there is a nationwide program called R.E.A.D. -- Reading Education Assistance Dogs. It has been noticed that there's another benefit of reading to the dogs that they didn't anticipate: confidence.

The volunteers see the kids light up and see how excited they are with their success. They see all these changes in the students that they just weren't able to make as beginning readers before.